Following a crash in 2022, the TV presenter and former England cricket all-rounder suffered major face injuries and shattered ribs.
Footage of Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff shortly after his Top Gear incident has been released for the first time, exposing the severity of his injuries.
In December 2022, the TV presenter and former England cricket all-rounder crashed while filming Top Gear at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, sustaining significant face injuries and fractured ribs.
The event occurred midway through filming for the second season of Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams.
The programme included footage Flintoff took of himself a week and a half after the tragedy.
“I really should not be here after what happened,” he remarked in the video.
“This is going to be a long journey back, and I’ve only just started. I’m already struggling.
“I’ve got to look on the bright side: I’m still alive, and I have another shot. I’ve decided to give it another shot.
Seven months after the accident, Flintoff was seen debating whether he could travel to India as part of the series, in which the retired cricketer coaches a team of disturbed youths.
Flintoff, 46, experienced anxiety and nightmares following the accident, making it difficult for him to leave the house.
“I thought I could just shake it off,” he told me.
“I wanted to shake it off and say ‘here I am, I’m fine.'” But it hasn’t been like that; it’s been more harder than I expected.
“As much as I wanted to go out and do things, I have just not been able to.”
He continued, “I don’t want to sit here and feel sorry for myself. I’m not looking for sympathy, but it’s going from being here for seven months to moving to India for two and a half weeks.”
The program demonstrated how Flintoff eventually made the trip to India, which had been delayed by more than a year owing to his crash.
Following the event, he stepped down from Top Gear, which has been halted for the “foreseeable future” by BBC.
Previously, the BBC stated that it had reached a financial deal with Flintoff valued at £9 million, according to The Sun.
Flintoff returned to cricket as a member of the England coaching team, and he is currently in his first full-time coaching post, with the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.